22 March 2018 | by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt , James Roberts
The Tablet
Theologians regret Pope Emeritus’ view of Hünermann
Vatican admitted it redacted a letter from retired Pope Benedict XVI to the prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for Communication
Two leading theologians have publicly
expressed their “profound dismay and regret” at Pope Emeritus Benedict’s
criticism of the German theologian Peter Hünermann.
Benedict’s criticism was made in a letter
to the former prefect of the communications secretariat at the Vatican,
Mgr Dario Vigano. The letter was written to coincide with the launch
of an 11-volume series on the theology of Pope Francis on the fifth
anniversary of his papacy. Mgr Vigano made citations from the letter
selecting those that reinforced the idea of “continuity” between the
papacies of Benedict XVI and Francis. The Vatican was a few days later
forced to publish the whole letter, in which Benedict expressed strong
reservations about Professor Peter Hünermann, one of the 11 theologians,
weakening the overall impression of “continuity”. Mgr Vigano
subsequently resigned, writing in a letter to Pope Francis that “recent
controversies” were “destabilising" the Pope’s reform work.
Although Mgr Vigano insisted there was “no
intent” to censor the letter, he had failed to disclose a part of it
where Benedict expressed “surprise” over the inclusion of Hünermann as
one of the contributors to the 11 volumes. “Only as an aside, I would
like to note my surprise at the fact that among the authors is also
Professor Hünermann, who during my pontificate had distinguished himself
by leading anti-papal initiatives. He played a major part in the
release of the “Kölner Erklärung”, [Cologne Declaration] which, in
relation to the encyclical “Veritatis splendor”, virulently attacked the
magisterial authority of the Pope, especially on questions of moral
theology,” Benedict wrote.
The Pope Emeritus also recalled that the
professor had been involved in a European theological initiative that
was “organised in opposition to the papal magisterium” but was prevented
from developing in this way because other theologians aligned with the
thinking of the Church prevented it.
“Additionally, the ‘Europäische
Theologengesellschaft [ET]’, which he [Hünermann] founded, was initially
conceived by him as an organisation in opposition to the papal
magisterium. Later, the ecclesial sense of many theologians blocked this
orientation, making that organisation a normal instrument of encounter
among theologians,” Benedict wrote in his letter.
The two theologians in their joint public
statement delivered on Wednesday 21 March, took deep exception to these
comments. Anyone who was acquainted with Hünermann’s extensive
theological work “knows that allegations that Hünermann was anti-church
and anti-papal do not apply”, the dean of the Catholic Theological
faculty in Vienna, Sigrid Müller and moral theologian Martin M. Lintner
of Bozen/Bolzano University in Italy declared. Moreover, the “European
Society for Catholic Theology (ET)”, of which they are both former
presidents, “never at any time opposed the Magisterium”, they insisted.
The ET had “from the beginning been a pan-European platform for dialogue
between theologians of all theological disciplines, in the context of
political events of that time, in particular with theologians from
Central and Eastern Europe,” they recalled.
Benedict’s words attested to past tensions
between theologians and between theologians and the Magisterium which
had left deep wounds at the personal level, Müller and Lintner declared.
“We hope that these tensions, which were based on differing lines of
theological argumentation, can now give way to reciprocal appreciation”.
Aside from a justified plurality of theological approaches, theologians
were “always fully aware of their joint commitment to faith, theology
and the Church”, the statement said.
Pic: An image showing a letter from
retired Pope Benedict XVI to Msgr. Dario Vigano, prefect of the Vatican
Secretariat for Communication, is seen in this photo released by the
Vatican March 12. On March 14 the Vatican admitted that it blurred the
last lines in the image of the letter. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
No comments:
Post a Comment